What was taking Clint so long?

'What happened? Where are the others?' Pepper asked. Natasha had to give her some credit for remaining so calm after being dragged out of the building, along with Peter and Sam, without knowing at all for what reason.

Her skin crawled. A quick look around told her Stark Tower was already surrounded. Black SUVs (why would it always be black SUVs?) parked in almost every corner of the block, and their windows were dark.

Sam seemed to have picked up on it as well.

'Should I call Tony?'

'They bugged the building.'

'Bugged the what?' Peter looked up from his phone. 'Who?'

'Shield… Why is everything coming from Shield…' Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. 'They want to arrest us?'

'Maybe not all of us, but they certainly are going for the Asgardians, according to Wanda.'

'Wanda? Is she alright?'

Damn; she didn't give her a second thought. Sure, Wanda was capable of managing on her own, but it didn't mean she would be completely fine…

A sudden ringtone. Everyone looked at the only person with his phone visible.

'Not me.' Peter shook his head.

Pepper fumbled with her purse and pulled out her phone.

'Hello? Um, we're outside…'

She turned on speaker mode and Tony's voice crackled through.

'Where are you guys now?'

'Two blocks away. They surrounded the building.'

'Yeah that won't be a priority for us now.' Hela's voice came through. 'Are the Asgardians with you?'

'No.'

'Where the hell are they? Jarv?'

'The Warrior Three, Miss Sif, and Thor are presently not within the tower, sir.'

'What? When did they leave?'

'Around an hour ago.'

'To where?'

'They did not inform me of their destination, Miss Hela.'

'Great. So we have five gods on the loose with no way to contact or locate them, Shield on our asses for some reason, and- Wait, where is Loki?'

Everyone listening to the call had an unanimous intake of breath.

'My sensors suggest he is still in his room…'

'But…?'

'… I also detected him leaving the building.'

'At least Loki we can track using our finest new tech-'

'He's probably still on Midgard. I can just find him.'

'Hela stop stealing my show! Where is he?'

'Not far off, but he is moving fast.'

A ripple went through the street. Armored and masked people clamored out of the black cars. Confused and frightened pedestrians watch them approach the already broken front doors, but quickly scattered when they threw smoke bombs inside and started shooting.

'Sir-'

'I know Jarvis I have eyes. Add to my reminders to make a better door.'

'Nat, take them as far as possible to somewhere safe. We'll follow later.'

'Don't do anything stupid, Stark. The last thing we want is giving them a reason-'

'Hel, get Bruce and Clint out of here. Jarvis?'

'Yes sir?'

'Get my suit ready-"

'Tony!" Pepper screeched, but the line already went dead. 'My word! He's going to-'

'He's going to be fine. He won't kill himself. I hope.' Hela stepped out of the shadows behind them. Bruce let go of her and promptly threw up in the nearest sewer opening. With all the commotion, no civilians paid attention to the fact three people just appeared out of thin air.

'So, where to?'

'I'm not traveling like that ever again.' Clint leaned on a lamp post with a hand over his stomach. '…At least not in the next hour.'

'Sorry. I was planning to go to Loki but I changed mid-teleportation.'

'Changed mid-teleportation?'

'He was moving around too fast, I would have splinched- (oh wait wrong universe) caused serious injuries if I tried too hard. He must be doing something with great urgency…'

Natasha allowed herself one more glance around them. There were people now guarding the cars with guns, paying no attention whatsoever to the crowd freaking out around them. A police car pulled up nearby, but no one came out.

Smart. If it were her, she wouldn't want to have anything to do with them either.

'Let's go find the Asgardians,' she said.

OOO

Loki made his way across the Earth, only pausing at places he had been before.

A mountain top, a shopping centre, a memorial, a square… The views flash by, each carrying their own weight. They started to blur. It was the dizziness; it was watery eyes. From the bright light.

All of a sudden, Loki didn't want to stop.

What would it be like, to be a plain person and just…

…live?

He smacked himself on the forehead. No. This thought won't do. There are still things to carry on with. People are waiting. Time is running out as an ominous (purple) threat rises on the horizon. With forces scattered, what future awaits?

So Loki returned to the darkness once more, and slipped away from the world.

Author's notes:

I've risen from the dead.

In case it's not obvious enough, I've written myself into a dead end a long long time ago, and now with all the Infinity Wars, I'm not sure if I would ever be able to finish with an ending I'm satisfied with. However, if any of YOU, my dear readers, have any ideas though, you are more than welcome to share them with me (no matter how stupid or unrealistic), and I will see if I can bring it to "life". The only way I can see out for this fanfic will be random excerpts of normal life for the characters doing everyday normal things. You know, killing AI robots, binge watching TV shows, eating poptarts, etc. But if you think you have a good idea for an ending, I will love to hear it as well.

Oh and, Happy New Year.